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LIBRARY 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 


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ANOTHER    SUMMER 


THE 

YELLOWSTONE    PARK 

AND 

ALASKA 


BY 

CHARLES  J.  GILLIS 


(prtnf eo  for 
(ptiaafe  ©fefrifiuftoit 


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Copyright,  1893,  by 
CHARLES  J.  GILLIS. 


Press  of  J.  J.  Little  &  Co. 
Astor  Place,  New  York 


The  more  I  think  of  it,  the  more  I  find  this  conclusion 
impressed  upon  me,  that  the  greatest  thing  a  human  soul 
ever  does  in  this  world  is  to  see  something  and  tell  what 
it  saw  in  a  plain  way. — Ruskin. 


Yttfttttf 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2007  with  funding  from 

Microsoft  Corporation 


http://www.archive.org/details/anothersummeryelOOgillrich 


rWitfy  ifc  ComyKmenfs 
of  1 0e  ®uf  0or. 


PREFACE. 

In  the  spring  of  1892,  a  party  was  made 
up  for  a  trip  to  Alaska.  The  different 
members  thereof  were  to  cross  the  conti- 
nent by  such  routes  as  they  pleased,  and 
meet  at  Portland,  Oregon,  on  the  second  of 
July.  This  plan  was  followed,  and  all  the 
party  boarded  the  steamer  Queen  at  Ta- 
coma,  prepared  for  the  journey  of  a  thou- 
sand miles  up  the  coast  of  Alaska. 

Some  account  of  this,  and  also  of  an  ex- 
cursion to  the  Yellowstone  Park,  made  on 
the  way  westward,  is  given  in  the  follow- 
ing pages. 


CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.— The  Start  for  Alaska,  .        .        .11 

II. — On  the  Way  to  the  Yellowstone,    13 

III.— Yellowstone  Park,  .       ,        .       .16 

IV.— The  Geysers  and  Paint  Pot,         .    18 

V.— The  Upper  Geyser  Basin,      .        .    22 

VI.— The  Grand  Canyon,  and  the  Falls 

of  the  Yellowstone,        .       .25 
VII.— Down  the  Columbia  River  to  Port- 
land,     29 

VIII.— Tacoma  and  Seattle,      .        .        .34 
IX.— On  Board  the  "  Queen"  from  Ta- 
coma to  Victoria,     .  .    37 

X.— Alaska, 41 

XL— The  Muir  Glacier,  .        .        .        .43 

XII.— Sitka, 46 

XIII.— An  Accident  to  the  "  Queen,"     .    49 
XIV. — Icy  Bay,  Treadwell,  and  Juneau,    53 
XV.— The   Return  Voyage,    and   Some 

Stories  told  on  the  Way,      .    56 
XVI.— On  the  Canadian  Pacific,      .        .    68 

XVII.— Banff  Springs, 72 

XVIII.— Conclusion, 74 


THE  YELLOWSTONE   PARK 
AND   ALASKA. 


CHAPTER    I. 


THE   START    FOR   ALASKA. 


j^^^^^fuR  long  trip  to  Alaska  and 
return,  nine  thousand  miles 
in  all,  commenced  on  June 
17,  1892,  at  the  Grand  Cen- 
tral Station,  New  York. 
Arriving  at  Chicago  the 
next  afternoon,  we  obtained  a  good  view  of 
the  great  exposition  buildings  from  our  car 
windows  as  we  passed  along  the  lake  front. 
Shortly  afterward  we  were  dumped  down 
at  the  wretched  sheds  of  the  Michigan  Cen- 
tral Railroad.  It  rained  very  heavily,  and 
ourselves  and  hand  baggage  were  somewhat 
wet  passing  a  short  distance  to  a  carriage. 
We  soon  crossed  the  Chicago  River  to  the 
Northwestern  Depot,  boarded  the  train, 
which  left  at  11  P.M.,  and  arrived  at  the 
beautiful  modern  city  of  St.  Paul  at  1  P.M. 


12    Yellowstone  Park  and  Alaska. 

the  next  day.  The  Hotel  Ryan  was  found 
to  be  very  comfortable,  and  everything  in 
and  around  the  city  is  bright  and  cheerful. 
Great  business  activity,  and  immense  and 
costly  buildings  are  especially  noticeable. 

Running  along  the  streets  are  great  num- 
bers of  spacious  and  elegant  cars  drawn  by 
cables.  We  hailed  a  passing  one,  got  in, 
and  went  slowly  and  carefully  through  the 
crowded  streets,  up  and  down  hills,  with 
great  speed  and  ease,  into  the  country  for 
some  miles,  passing  many  elegant  private 
residences,  as  costly  and  fine  as  any  to  be 
seen  in  any  city  in  the  world — notably  one 
built  and  occupied  by  Mr.  Hill,  president 
of  the  Great  Northern  Railroad,  now  about 
completed  to  the  Pacific  Ocean,  whose 
name  you  hear  mentioned  often  as  one  of 
the  great  railroad  magnates  of  the  West. 
The  streets  are  clean,  the  sidewalks  wide, 
the  front  yards  of  the  houses  crowded  with 
beautiful  plants  and  flowers,  and  in  all  re- 
spects we  concluded  that  St.  Paul  is  a  most 
delightful  city. 


CHAPTER   II. 

ON   THE   WAY  TO   THE 
YELLOWSTONE. 

Livingston,  Montana,  June  22,  1892. 

jfc  left  the  city  of  St.  Paul 
'at  4.25  P.M.  on  the  20th, 
by  the  Northern  Pacific 
Railroad,  and  arrived 
here  at  8  A.M.  this  morn- 
ing. A  section  on  the 
sleeping-car  had  been  previously  engaged, 
and  we  found  it  and  the  dining-room  car 
attached  to  the  train  all  that  could  be 
desired,  so  that  we  thoroughly  enjoyed  the 
entire  trip.  Passing  through  the  Bad  Lands 
was  a  wonderful  experience.  Great  moun- 
tains of  clay  or  stone,  in  all  sorts  of  gro- 
tesque shapes  and  of  many  colors,  constantly 
attracted  our  attention  until  we  reached  the 
Yellowstone  River,  which  was  higher  than 
it  had  been  for  many  years.  Here  things 
began  to  look  serious,  as  frequently  the 
dirty  and   rushing  flood  came  near  to  the 


14   Yellowstone  Park  and  Alaska. 

track,  and  the  rise  of  a  foot  or  so  would 
have  caused  a  wash-out,  and  have  stopped 
our  progress  ;  but  for  many  miles  before 
we  reached  this  station,  the  engineer  moved 
the  train  of  ten  cars  very  carefully,  and  we 
were  only  two  hours  behind  time.  There 
has  been  a  bridge  burned  beyond  this  place, 
and  some  bad  wash-outs  are  reported  by 
passengers  coming  East,  who  say  that  they 
had  to  travel  around  six  miles  on  foot, 
through  a  country  infested  with  rattle- 
snakes, leaving  their  baggage  behind  ;  but 
we  expect  that  all  will  be  clear  on  Mon- 
day, when  we  shall  have  been  through  the 
park,  and  will  be  ready  to  go  on  from  here 
West. 

There  was  the  usual  crowd  of  "  all  sorts 
and  conditions M  of  men  on  the  train — 
young  ranchmen,  bright  eyed,  intelligent, 
and  alert,  one  of  them  being  an  English 
lord,  but  I  did  not  know  this  until  he  left 
the  car  at  a  way  station.  All  had  tales  to 
tell  of  life  in  these  parts,  one  of  which  was 
that  the  stage  running  from  one  of  the 
stations  at  which  we  stopped  was  "  held 
up  "  three  times  last  week,  and  the  passen- 
gers robbed.  This  town  is  a  new  one,  with 
a  lot  of  small  wooden  houses  and  stores, 


On  the  Way  to  the  Yellowstone.   15 

but  as  the  hotels  did  not  look  very  attrac- 
tive, we  took  our  breakfast  on  the  dining- 
car  attached  to  a  train  about  to  start  for 
Cinnabar,  on  a  branch  road,  and  an  excel- 
lent meal  we  had. 


CHAPTER   III. 

YELLOWSTONE   PARK. 

Mammoth  Springs  Hotel, 
Yellowstone  National  Park,  June  23,  1892 . 

*EAVING  Livingston  at  9 
A.M.,  we  travelled  by  rail 
forty-two  miles  to  Cinna- 
bar, the  entrance  to  the 
National  Park.  We  passed 
along  the  valley  of  the 
Yellowstone  River,  now  a  much  swollen,  tur- 
bulent, and  rushing  stream,  hemmed  in  by 
mountains  reaching  their  lofty  heads  thou- 
sands of  feet  high.  In  one  place  there  had 
been  a  land-slide  some  hundreds  of  feet 
long,  which  had  carried  down  all  the  earth 
and  trees  into  the  valley,  leaving  the  rock 
bare,  and  presenting  a  very  rugged  appear- 
ance. There  were  numerous  farms  and 
ranches  on  the  route,  with  cattle  and  culti- 
vated fields.  The  road  bed  was  in  good 
order,  the  cars  excellent,  and  the  trip  ex- 
ceedingly   interesting   and    enjoyable.     At 


Yellowstone  Park.  17 

Cinnabar,  we  took  a  stage  for  eight  miles 
to  this  hotel.  The  road  is  a  very  good  one, 
passing  over  rushing  streams  and  along  the 
bases  of  great  mountains,  amidst  magni- 
ficent scenery.  Beautiful  flowers  line  the 
way  and  are  in  the  fields,  while  the  moun- 
tains are  partly  covered  with  snow.  We 
hear  that  the  road  to  the  lake  is  blocked 
with  snow,  and  impassable.  This  hotel  is 
an  excellent  one,  the  food,  attendance,  and 
rooms  are  good,  and  for  a  day  we  are  rest- 
ing preparatory  to  commencing  the  tour  of 
the  park.  Here  are  located  the  barracks 
for  the  United  States  soldiers  in  charge  of 
the  reservation,  these  being  now  two  hun- 
dred mounted  men,  who  act  as  police,  and 
constantly  patrol  the  roads,  watching  for 
poachers,  and  generally  keeping  everything 
in  order.  From  the  front  of  the  hotel  we 
look  upon  the  hot  springs,  which  have  been 
throwing  out  hot  water  and  steam,  no  doubt 
for  ages,  and  have  formed  a  large  terraced 
hill  of  soda  or  lime-like  material,  the  sur- 
plus water  finding  its  way,  partly  through 
subterranean  passages,  to  the  river. 


CHAPTER    IV. 


J& 


THE   GEYSERS  AND    PAINT    POT. 

Fountain  Hotel, 
Yellowstone  Park,  June  23,  1892. 

HIS  morning  at  eight 
o'clock  we  left  the  Mam- 
moth Spring,  in  a  strongly 
built  and  comfortable 
wagon  drawn  by  four 
horses,  with  eight  passen- 
gers and  a  careful  driver,  and  soon  com- 
menced to  see  the  wonders  of  this  remark- 
able park.  The  road  ran  near  three  lakes, 
each  measuring  a  hundred  acres  or  more — 
one  green  in  color,  one  blue,  and  one  yel- 
low— the  like  of  which  cannot,  I  think,  be 
seen  anywhere  else  on  earth.  On  exami- 
nation, I  found  that  the  water  was  clear, 
and  that  the  pronounced  and  brilliant  colors 
came  from  chemical  deposits  on  the  bottom 
of  the  lakes.  We  did  not  linger  long  to 
look  at  these  remarkable  phenomena,  but 
drove   on,  and    were    soon    passing  over  a 


The  Geysers  and  Paint  Pot.      19 

road  made  of  natural  glass,  by  the  side  of 
a  great  mountain  of  the  same  material.  I 
picked  up  several  pieces  of  this  glass,  and 
found  that  it  was  green  in  color,  and  looked 
like  any  other  glass,  while  alongside  the 
road  and  up  the  mountain  we  saw  large 
masses  of  the  same  material.  The  only 
conclusion  we  could  arrive  at  was,  that  in 
some  prehistoric  time  the  materials  of 
which  glass  is  composed  must  have  been 
in  juxtaposition,  and  were  fused  into  their 
present  form  by  a  volcanic  eruption.  It  is 
safe  to  say  that  nowhere  else  on  earth  is 
to  be  found  a  roadway  made  of  glass. 

We  reached  this  hotel  at  6  P.M.,  and  saw 
near  by  the  first  of  the  geysers,  spouting 
hot  water  fifty  feet  high.  We  made  our 
way  over  a  thin  crust  to  see  this  geyser, 
so  thin  that  it  seemed  as  if  we  might  break 
through  and  disappear  forever,  reminding 
me  of  a  former  experience,  when  walking 
along  the  edge  of  a  volcano  in  Japan,  a 
place  was  pointed  out  where  two  guides 
who  had  wandered  from  the  path,  broke 
through  the  crust  and  were  lost.  We  passed 
on  to  examine  what  I  consider  the  most 
extraordinary  natural  phenomenon  to  be 
seen  on  the  face  of  the  earth.     It  is  called 


20   Yellowstone  Park  and  Alaska. 

the  Paint  Pot,  and  is  a  depression  of  about 
thirty  by  forty  feet,  with  walls  of  hardened 
clay  three  or  four  feet  high.  In  this  so- 
called  pot  are  half  a  dozen  or  more  cones, 
much  like  inverted  flower  pots,  about  six 
inches  in  diameter  at  the  top,  and  two  or 
three  feet  high.  From  the  centres  of  these 
there  are  constantly  flowing  streams  of  hot 
clay,  each  stream  of  a  different  color,  vary- 
ing from  pure  white  to  brown.  In  other 
parts  of  the  big  pot  the  soft  clay  was  com- 
ing slowly  up  from  centres  and  overflowing, 
forming  figures  like  flowers,  very  beautiful 
to  look  at.  The  soldier  who  escorted  us 
was  very  polite,  but  would  not  permit  us 
to  carry  away  a  bit  of  the  clay,  though 
there  were  tens  of  thousands  of  tons  lying 
about.  We  could  see,  near  by  and  at  a 
distance,  several  other  geysers,  spouting 
water  fifty  or  more  feet  high,  and  we  learned 
from  the  guide  books  that  there  are  no  less 
than  ten  or  twelve  thousand  boiling  springs 
and  geysers  within  the  reservation,  which 
is  sixty-five  miles  long  by  fifty-three  wide, 
containing  about  three  thousand  four  hun- 
dred and  seventy-five  square  miles.  We 
were  informed  that  after  sunset  a  bear 
came  regularly,  back  of  the  hotel,  to  regale 


The  Geysers  and  Paint  Pot,     21 

himself  on  the  refuse  thrown  from  the 
kitchen,  and  I  went  to  see  him  ;  but  the 
mosquitoes  were  very  thick,  and  proved 
such  an  intolerable  nuisance  that  I  was 
obliged  to  go  away  without  getting  a  look 
at  the  beast. 


CHAPTER  V. 


THE    UPPER   GEYSER   BASIN. 


June  24,  1892. 

[FTER  a  good  night's  sleep, 
we  left  the  hotel  at  half- 
past  eight  this  morning 
for  an  excursion  to  the 
Upper  Geyser  Basin,  forty 
miles  distant.  The  roads 
were  in  bad  order,  very  dusty,  and  the  mos- 
quitoes thick.  Geysers  and  boiling  springs 
were  to  the  right  and  left,  everywhere.  At 
one  place  we  got  out  of  the  wagon,  and 
crossed  a  bridge  over  a  small  stream  to 
what  is  called  the  Devil's  Half  Acre.  There 
were  really  a  dozen  or  more  acres,  contain- 
ing great  volumes  of  steam  and  hot  water 
rushing  up  and  around.  Many  little  streams 
ran  toward  a  big  basin,  some  of  them  yel- 
low, some  green,  and  some  blue,  but  on 
examination  I  found  that  the  water  itself 
was  clear.  The  mud  or  clay  which  formed 
the  bed  of  the  streams,  or  was  being  car- 


The   Upper  Geyser  Basin.       23 

ried  along  in  the  current,  was  colored.  We 
thought  the  Devil's  Half  Acre  a  dangerous 
as  well  as  a  disagreeable  place,  and,  recross- 
ing  the  little  stream,  continued  on  our  way, 
arriving  at  the  hotel  at  the  Upper  Geyser 
Basin  in  four  hours.  We  had  just  arrived 
when  we  were  informed  that  the  famous 
Old  Faithful  Geyser,  which  has  spouted  for 
many  years  every  sixty-five  minutes,  would 
go  off  in  a  short  time.  It  is  situated  a  few 
rods  from  the  hotel,  and  as  we  drew  near, 
it  commenced  to  spout  up  an  immense 
column  of  water  and  steam  one  hundred 
and  fifty  feet  or  so  in  height.  Then,  in 
about  five  minutes,  it  subsided  into  a  hole 
in  the  ground.  We  could  hear  the  roar  of 
the  steam  and  water  underneath,  the  com- 
motion shaking  the  ground. 

Soon  after  this  exhibition,  another  gey- 
ser, called  the  Bee  Hive,  situated  near  the 
hotel,  spouted,  and  made  a  splendid  display. 
I  think  we  saw  in  this  basin  as  many  as 
twenty  large  spouting  geysers,  and  hun- 
dreds of  boiling  springs,  many  of  them  of 
surprising  beauty.  One,  which  attracted 
my  attention  particularly,  was  a  slowly 
boiling  spring  which  threw  up  colored  clay, 
and   looked   exactly   like   a   large    sponge. 


24    Yellowstone  Park  and  Alaska. 

This   was  about   three   feet   long,  two   feet 
wide,  and  as  many  high. 

Driving  along  the  road,  we  frequently 
saw  signs  put  up  by  the  Government :  "  Do 
not  drive  on  here,"  and  "  Danger  ";  so  one 
is  impressed  with  the  idea  that  some  day 
the  tremendous  volcanic  power  underlying 
this  entire  valley  may  burst  out  and  make 
one  vast  crater  of  lava,  mud,  water,  and 
steam. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THE  GRAND  CANYON,  AND  THE 
FALLS  OF  THE  YELLOWSTONE. 

Grand  Canyon  Hotel,  June  26,  1892. 

E  left  the  Upper  Geyser 
Basin  at  half-past  eight 
yesterday  morning, 
stopped  for  lunch  at 
Norris's  at  noon,  and, 
branching  off,  arrived 
here  at  3.30  P.M.  The  road  was  on  the 
banks  of  or  near  the  Gibbon  River  for  many 
miles,  and  was  very  rough.  Twice  we 
forded  the  river,  and  once  the  passengers 
were  obliged  to  leave  the  wagon  and  re- 
move a  fallen  tree  from  the  way.  At 
another  place,  a  tree  a  foot  in  diameter 
had  fallen  across  the  road ;  the  party  all 
got  out,  and  the  driver  had  to  jump  the 
wagon  over  the  obstruction,  at  the  risk  of 
breaking  the  vehicle.  The  road  from  Norris's 
was  in  good  repair,  and  from  it  we  had  a 
fine  view  of  the  great   Yellowstone   Falls, 


26    Yellowstone  Park  and  Alaska. 

and  then  drove  on  to  find  comfortable  ac- 
commodations at  this  hotel,  the  views  from 
which  are  very  magnificent.  Mrs.  Marble 
and  I,  accompanied  by  a  guide,  and  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Hunter,  of  Canada,  took  a  walk  toward 
the  Grand  Canyon,  about  half  a  mile  off. 
Crossing  some  fields,  we  entered  the  pine 
woods.  The  whole  park  has  been  repeat- 
edly burnt  over,  and  there  is  everywhere 
an  immense  number  of  prostrate  pine-trees, 
some  of  which  are  very  large,  and  appeared, 
when  we  saw  them,  to  have  been  lying  on 
the  ground  many  years.  In  this  vicinity, 
however,  there  is  quite  a  forest  of  new 
growth,  all  about  the  same  size,  from  six 
to  ten  inches  in  diameter,  and  ten  to  a 
dozen  feet  apart,  making  a  very  pretty 
park.  Here  we  came,  suddenly  upon  a  big 
black  bear  lying  down  ;  he  got  up,  took  a 
look  at  us,  and  then  in  a  leisurely  way 
walked  off.  It  was  a  fine  specimen,  weigh- 
ing, we  judged,  about  two  hundred  and  fifty 
pounds,  with  long,  clean  black  hair.  Mr. 
Hunter  ran  on  toward  the  animal,  but  we 
called  to  him  to  come  back,  and  the  bear, 
turning  his  head,  gave  us  another  look,  and 
disappeared  in  the  forest.  We  walked 
along  to  the  banks  of  the  rushing  and  roar- 


The  Falls  of  the   Yellowstone,      27 

ing  river,  ascended  a  high  cliff,  and  looked 
down  upon  the  great  falls  and  the  tremen- 
dous canyon,  the  walls  of  which  are  several 
hundred  feet  high,  colored  bright  green  in 
some  places,  and  in  others  red,  yellow,  or 
violet. 

The  whole  scene  was  magnificent,  grand, 
and  gloomy.  In  the  middle  of  the  river, 
near  where  we  stood,  was  a  column  of  rock 
some  hundreds  of  feet  high,  apparently  ten 
yards  in  diameter  at  the  bottom,  and  just 
large  enough  at  the  top  for  an  eagle's  nest. 
One  had  been  built  there,  and  we  saw  the 
young  eagles  stretching  their  necks,  and 
opening  their  mouths,  as  all  kinds  of  young 
ones  do  when  hungry.  The  parents  were 
soaring  about,  and  evidently  keeping  a 
watchful  eye  upon  us  and  their  progeny, 
but  the  little  ones  were  safe,  as  nothing  but 
a  ball  from  a  rifle  could  reach  that  nest. 
From  this  point  we  had  another  fine  view 
of  the  Falls  of  the  Yellowstone,  both  lower 
and  upper.  The  upper  fall  has  been  meas- 
ured, and  found  to  be  one  hundred  and 
twelve  feet  high  and  eighty  feet  wide. 

The  wild  animals  in  the  reservation  are 
carefully  protected  by  the  custodians,  no 
one  being  allowed  to  use  a  gun,  and  conse- 


28    Yellowstone  Park  and  Alaska. 

quently  they  have  become  comparatively 
tame,  and  have  increased  in  numbers.  Pass- 
ing along  the  roads,  we  saw  on  one  occa- 
sion two  deer,  and  at  other  times  an  elk 
and  an  antelope.  The  superintendent,  in 
his  official  report,  says  that  there  are  in  the 
park  four  hundred  head  of  buffalo,  a  few 
moose,  numerous  elk,  estimated  at  twenty 
thousand,  and  large  numbers  of  bears,  which 
latter  are  sometimes  troublesome.  A  herd 
of  twenty  or  thirty  elk  was  seen  near  this 
hotel  on  the  morning  before  we  arrived. 


CHAPTER   VII. 


DOWN  THE  COLUMBIA  RIVER  TO 
PORTLAND. 

Portland,  Oregon,  July  i,  1892. 

FTER  spending  six  days 
in  the  Yellowstone  Park, 
which  would  have  been 
far  more  comfortable  if 
there  had  been  less  dust, 
fewer  mosquitoes,  and  bet- 
ter roads,  we  again  returned  to  Livingston, 
and  took  -the  train  coming  from  the  East  at 
8.15  P.M.  All  the  next  day  and  night  and 
the  day  following  we  were  passing  through 
mountain  scenery  of  wonderful  beauty  and 
grandeur,  until  at  1 1  P.M.  we  were  landed  at 
Pasco  Junction,  there  being  a  cross-country 
railroad  from  that  point  to  the  Union  Pa- 
cific, on  the  banks  of  the  Columbia,  where 
we  wanted  to  go.  There  was  a  large  station 
at  Pasco,  but  not  a  porter  nor  a  carriage  to 
be  seen.  Many  drinking  places  were  open, 
and   I  interviewed  several   of   the   patriots 


30    Yellowstone  Park  and  Alaska. 

who  were  lounging  about  in  their  shirt 
sleeves — for  the  thermometer  registered  one 
hundred  degrees — and  they  pointed  out  the 
way  to  Cook's  Hotel,  about  a  quarter  of  a 
mile  off.  Finally  a  porter  came  to  our 
assistance  and  escorted  us  to  the  hotel, 
which  was  about  as  poor  a  one  as  could 
well  be — close,  hot,  and  uncomfortable. 
The  beds  were  as  hot  as  if  there  was  a  fire 
under  them,  and  we,  of  course,  slept  but 
little.  In  the  morning,  after  looking  at  a 
bad  breakfast,  which  did  not  tempt  our 
appetites,  we  got  into  the  caboose  of  a 
freight  train,  and  a  very  rough  trip  of  two 
hours  brought  us  to  Wallula  Junction,  where 
the  thermometer  stood  at  one  hundred  de- 
grees in  the  shade.  Here  we  changed  cars, 
and  after  two  hours'  more  riding,  reached 
the  Union  Pacific  Railroad,  where  we  once 
more  enjoyed  the  luxury  of  seats  in  a  Pull- 
man. There  was  no  dining-room  car  attached 
to  this  train,  but  it  stopped  at  a  station  for 
half  an  hour,  and  we  were  supplied  with  an 
excellent  dinner.  The  polite  and  kind  con- 
ductor told  us  not  to  hurry,  that  he  would 
not  start  until  we  had  all  the  dinner  we 
wanted.  We  were  about  eight  hours  run- 
ning on  or  near  the  southern  banks  of  the 


Down  the  Columbia  River.       31 

Columbia  River.  The  water  was  very  high, 
and  often  ran  swiftly  over  rough  rocks  in 
the  bed  of  the  stream,  and  around  the  bends 
with  great  force.  The  river  appeared  much 
wider  than  the  Hudson,  about  the  same 
width  as  the  Danube  at  Vienna.  The 
great  rivers  of  Europe,  Asia,  Africa,  and 
America  all  have  their  attractive  peculiari- 
ties, and  I  often  recall  my  remembrances 
of  the  St.  Lawrence,  Hudson,  Mississippi, 
Rhine,  Elbe,  Danube,  Seine,  Nile,  and 
Ganges  with  the  greatest  pleasure  and  satis- 
faction, and  am  thankful  that  I  have  been 
permitted  to  see  them  ;  but  I  must  ac- 
knowledge that  the  Columbia,  in  beauty  and 
grandeur,  far  surpasses  them  all.  For  long 
distances,  you  look  out  upon  the  wide  and 
rushing  water,  and  up  to  the  lofty  moun- 
tains which  border  the  banks  and  far  be- 
yond, some  covered  with  snow,  and  as  pict- 
uresque and  beautiful  as  anything  an  artist 
could  dream  of. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  things  to  be 
seen  on  the  trip  down  the  river  is  the 
method  of  catching  salmon,  which,  as  is 
well  known,  are  as  fine  as  any  in  the  world. 
They  are  caught  in  immense  numbers  and 
sent  to  all  parts   of  the  country.     During 


32    Yellowstone  Park  and  Alaska. 

the  dry  season,  a  wall  is  built  about  twenty- 
five  feet  from  the  shore,  forming  a  canal 
through  which  the  water  rushes  with  great 
force.  In  this  canal  is  placed  a  large  wheel, 
something  like  those  on  asidewheel  steamer, 
under  which  the  water  pours,  causing  it  to 
revolve  in  a  direction  contrary  to  the  cur- 
rent. The  salmon  swimming  up  stream  try 
to  jump  over  this  obstruction,  and  falling 
into  the  wheel,  are  tossed  up  on  a  platform, 
and  thus  captured. 

Our  train  arrived  at  this  city  at  9  P.M., 
and  we  were  furnished  with  luxurious  ac- 
commodations at  "The  Portland,"  an  hotel 
erected  by  a  stock  company,  at  a  cost  of 
one  million  dollars,  and  admirably  kept  by 
Mr.  Leland,  formerly  of  the  Delavan,  Al- 
bany, and  the  Clarendon,  Saratoga.  We 
found  at  the  hotel  all  of  the  Alaska  party 
in  good  health  and  spirits,  and  ready  for 
the  voyage  as  arranged. 

Two  days  of  exceptionally  fine  weather 
have  given  us  an  opportunity  to  see  this 
beautiful  city  to  the  best  advantage.  The 
Honorable  Benjamin  Stark,  formerly  United 
States  Senator  from  Oregon,  now  residing 
in  New  London,  Connecticut,  informed  me 
that  when  he  first  landed  at   Portland  in 


Down  the  Columbia  River.      33 

1845,  from  the  bark  Toulon,  there  was  not 
a  house  in  the  place,  and  the  party  was 
obliged  to  sleep  in  tents  where  now  is  a 
fine  city  of  sixty-six  thousand  inhabitants, 
wide  streets,  elegant  public  and  private 
buildings,  electric  and  cable  street  railways, 
and  all  the  appliances  of  modern  civiliza- 
tion, in  many  respect  in  advance  of  Eastern 
cities.  We  •  saw  a  number  of  Japanese  and 
Chinese  stores  filled  with  elegant  goods, 
and  attended  by  native  salesmen. 

3 


CHAPTER   VIII. 

TACOMA  AND  SEATTLE. 

Tacoma,  Washington,  July  5,  1892. 

left  Portland  at  8  A.M. 
on  the  2d  by  rail,  and 
arrived  at  this  fine  ho- 
tel, "  The  Tacoma,"  at 
3.30  P.M.  after  a  very- 
agreeable  and  comfort- 
able trip.  The  first  thing  to  attract  our 
special  attention  was  a  view  of  Mount 
Tacoma,  as  seen  from  the  rear  windows  of 
the  hotel,  truly  a  royal  and  splendid  sight : 
a  great  mountain,  of  symmetrical  shape,  cov- 
ered with  pure  white  snow.  There  are  not 
many  such  mountains  to  be  seen  anywhere  ; 
none  so  beautiful,  as  I  remember,  except 
the  Jungfrau  at  Interlaken,  and  Fusiyama 
in  Japan. 

We  have  been  in  this  place  for  three  days, 
going  about  everywhere,  and  find  it  a  won- 
derful example  of  a  rapidly  built  city — solid 
and  substantial,  wide  streets,  great  and  costly 


Tacoma  and  Seattle.  35 

public  and  private  buildings,  an  admirable 
system  of  swift-going  street  cars,  running 
in  every  direction,  by  cable  or  electric 
power  ;  fine  dry-goods  and  other  stores,  and 
every  indication  of  great  business  activity 
and  success. 

The  citizens  inform  us  that  in  1880  there 
were  thirty  thousand  inhabitants  in  this 
city,  and  now  there  are  fifty  thousand.  Judg- 
ing from  the  crowds  on  the  streets  and  in 
the  street  cars,  and  the  business  activity 
seen  everywhere,  this  must  be  correct.  We 
attended  service  on  Sunday  at  St.  Paul's 
Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  built  by  Mr. 
Wright,  of  Philadelphia,  in  memory  of  his 
daughter.  The  church  is  a  beautiful  one  ; 
the  service  was  rendered  in  an  impressive 
manner,  and  the  sermon  was  excellent. 

Wishing  to  see  Seattle,  the  other  famous 
city  of  the  State  of  Washington,  I  went 
there  by  rail  in  two  hours,  and,  accompanied 
by  a  relative,  spent  the  day  looking  at  the 
buildings  and  shops,  and  travelling  on  the 
electric  street  cars,  which  run  everywhere, 
with  what  appeared  to  be  dangerous  speed. 
We  had  an  excellent  lunch  at  a  good  hotel, 
situated  on  top  of  a  hill,  from  which  we 
looked  down  on  the  city  and  harbor.     Look- 


36    Yellowstone  Park  and  Alaska. 

ing  at  the  solid  blocks  of  business  houses, 
wholesale  and  retail,  and  the  beautiful  pri- 
vate residences,  and  knowing  that  there  are 
now  about  fifty  thousand  inhabitants  in  the 
city,  it  is  difficult  to  comprehend  that  fifteen 
or  twenty  years  ago  it  was  almost  a  wilder- 
ness. After  lunch,  we  took  seats  in  an  elec- 
tric car,  and  were  carried  five  or  six  miles 
with  the  greatest  ease,  to  a  beautiful  lake, 
where  we  found  many  interesting  things  to 
look  at  for  an  hour  or  two.  We  hear  of  a 
great  deal  of  jealousy  between  Tacoma  and 
Seattle,  but  to  a  stranger  they  appear  to 
have  much  in  common — large,  substantial 
and  handsome  buildings,  many  of  which 
would  not  be  thought  out  of  place  in  any 
city ;  prompt,  energetic,  and  lively  business 
men,  and  every  appearance  that  the  founda- 
tions have  been  laid  for  two  great  cities, 
to  which  the  immense  products  of  India, 
China,  and  Japan  will  naturally  come  for 
distribution  throughout  the  United  States 
and  Europe. 


CHAPTER   IX. 


ON    BOARD    THE  "  QUEEN  "  FROM 
TACOMA  TO  VICTORIA. 

Steamer  "  Queen,"  July  7,  1892. 

t  9  P.M.  on  the  5th  in- 
stant we  went  on  board 
the  steamer  Queen,  which, 
as  there  are  no  hotels 
in  Alaska,  is  to  be  our 
home  for  two  weeks.  The 
steamer  is  a  fine,  large  vessel,  with  ample 
accommodations  for  two  hundred  or  more 
passengers.  I  had  secured  and  paid  for 
two  first-class  staterooms  two  months  in 
advance,  but  found,  the  first  night,  that  the 
ones  given  us  were  the  worst  on  the  ship, 
being  directly  over  the  boiler,  and  conse- 
quently so  hot  that  it  was  impossible  to 
live  in  them  unless  the  doors  were  open. 
In  addition  to  this  annoyance,  when  the 
watch  was  changed  at  9  P.M.,  and  at  1, 
4,  and  8  A.M.,  the  ashes  were  hoisted  from 
the  hold,  the  rough  and  noisy  machinery 


38    Yellowstone  Park  and  Alaska. 

used  being  located  in  the  rear  of  our  rooms, 
apparently  within  a  foot  or  two.  The 
iron  ash-can  was  about  eighteen  inches  in 
diameter  and  four  feet  high,  and  when  it 
was  rushed  up  by  steam  power,  it  made  a 
tremendous  noise,  making  sleep  impossible. 
In  the  morning  I  called  on  the  purser,  and 
asked  him  to  change  the  rooms.  He  said 
that  he  could  not  "  change  all  the  rooms  in 
the  ship,"  but  on  being  informed  that  un- 
less he  gave  my  sister  better  accommoda- 
tions we  would  abandon  the  trip  and  go 
ashore  at  the  next  stopping  place,  he 
changed  his  mind,  and  gave  her  a  good 
room  in  the  cabin  below,  but  refused  to 
change  mine  unless  I  would  pay  fifty  dollars 
additional.  On  consultation  with  my  room- 
mate, Mr.  Edwin  S.  Townsend,  we  con- 
cluded that  the  advance  asked  was  a  viola- 
tion of  our  contract  with  the  company,  and 
that  we  would  not  pay  it.  We  therefore 
endured  the  distress  and  annoyance  of  the 
ash-lifting  machinery.  I  did  not  remove 
my  clothing  at  night,  but  lay  on  the  bed 
until  the  ash-can  nuisance  commenced,  and 
then  left  the  room  and  walked  the  deck 
until  the  noise  stopped,  in  about  half  an 
hour.     Being  forced  on  deck  at  night  had 


On  Board  the  "  Queen!'         39 

its  inconveniences,  but  it  had  its  compensa- 
tions also,  for  it  gave  me  the  chance  to  see 
the  magnificent  scenery  by  moonlight  ;  and, 
one  night,  there  was  a  splendid  display  of 
aurora  borealis,  which  illuminated  the  entire 
northern  sky. 

After  five  nights  spent  in  this  disagree- 
able manner,  one  of  our  friends  had  a  talk 
with  the  purser,  and  induced  him  to  change 
the  undesirable  rooms  for  comfortable  ones 
on  the  upper  deck.  We  learned  with  much 
satisfaction  that  the  steamer  during  the 
entire  trip  will  go  through  a  series  of  inland 
seas,  and  that  we  shall  look  upon  the  Paci- 
fic Ocean  but  two  or  three  times,  and  then 
for  only  a  few  hours. 

We  arrived  off  Seattle  at  4  A.M.  on  the 
6th,  and  remained  there  five  hours,  giving 
those  who  wished  an  opportunity  to  go 
ashore  and  see  that  famous  place.  All  day 
the  beautiful  vessel  steamed  along  the  quiet 
waters,  until  we  reached  Victoria,  the  capi- 
tal of  British  Columbia,  at  9  P.M.  Most 
of  our  party  thought  they  would  like  to  see 
the  place,  so  half  a  dozen  of  us  went  ashore, 
and  after  consulting  some  natives,  we  con- 
cluded to  walk  to  the  settled  part  of  the 
city.     It  was  quite  a  long  walk,  a  mile  or 


40    Yellowstone  Park  and  Alaska. 

more,  passing  government  buildings  and 
grounds,  and  many  handsome  houses,  until 
we  came  to  one  of  the  business  streets,  and 
there  we  found  the  "  Poodle  Dog  Restau- 
rant," rendered  famous  from  a  notice  of  it 
in  Mrs.  General  Collis's  exceedingly  interest- 
ing and  beautifully  illustrated  book,  "  A 
Woman's  Trip  to  Alaska."  We  had  a  little 
supper,  and  then  took  carriages  back  to  the 
vessel,  which  soon  afterward  steamed  away 
through  the  Gulf  of  Georgia,  and  along  the 
coast  of  British  Columbia  toward  Alaska, 
our  goal. 


CHAPTER   X. 


ALASKA. 


July  9,  1892. 


HIS  morning  we  went 
ashore  at  Fort  Wrangell, 
but  found  little  there  of 
interest.  A  lot  of  miser- 
able Indians  and  dogs 
and  old  houses,  a  post- 
office  and  a  court-house.  An  Indian  dressed 
himself  as  a  warrior  in  paint  and  feathers, 
and  executed  a  war-dance  in  a  barn  for 
the  amusement  of  the  visitors.  I  saw  him 
dancing  along  the  walk  into  the  barn,  but 
did  not  care  to  see  the  show.  At  noon  we 
left  the  fort,  and  since  then  have  been  pass- 
ing through  scenes  of  unsurpassed  magni- 
ficence. Tall  mountains  were  on  either 
side,  those  nearest  covered  with  spruce- 
trees,  and  the  ranges  back  of  them  white 
with  snow.  Occasionally  there  were  open 
spaces,  where  snow  or  land-slides  had  taken 
place,  making  good  feeding  grounds  for  wild 
animals,  but  we  saw  only  one,  a  large  elk, 


42     Yellowstone  Park  and  Alaska, 

who  kept  on  feeding  and  did  not  notice  our 
ship.  The  sun  set  at  a  quarter  past  nine  last 
evening.  The  steamers  route  is  generally 
between  islands  and  the  main  land,  the 
water  smooth  and  everything  comfortable ; 
but  yesterday  we  came  out  upon  the  broad 
Pacific  Ocean  for  an  hour  or  two,  and  some 
of  the  passengers  were  sea-sick,  but  none 
of  our  party  were  troubled  in  that  way. 
All  appeared  regularly  at  meals,  which  were 
excellent :  well-cooked  meats  and  vegeta- 
bles, and  plenty  of  fruit.  Just  now,  at  8 
P.M.,  we  are  in  a  bay  some  twenty  miles 
in  extent,  surrounded  by  great  mountains 
covered  with  snow.  The  setting  sun  shin- 
ing on  these  makes  a  picture  of  extreme 
beauty  and  grandeur.  All  day  long  we 
have  been  on  deck  admiring  the  beautiful 
sights,  the  weather  being  fine,  numerous 
sea-gulls  in  view,  occasionally  a  school  of 
porpoises,  and  now  and  then  a  whale.  Every 
day  we  pass  numerous  islands,  large  and 
small,  all  covered  with  spruce-trees  and 
having  a  very  charming  appearance. 


CHAPTER   XI. 


THE    MUIR    GLACIER. 

Glacier  Bay,  July  10,  1892. 

E  arrived  here  at  nine  this 
morning,  and  have  the 
great  Muir  Glacier  before 
us.  It  is  about  two  miles 
wide,  two  or  three  hun- 
dred feet  high,  and  sev- 
eral hundred  miles  long.  Every  quarter 
of  an  hour  or  so  we  hear  a  loud  crack,  fol- 
lowed by  a  noise  like  the  discharge  of  a  gun, 
then  a  rumbling  like  thunder,  and  a  big 
piece  of  ice,  as  large  as  a  house,  and,  some- 
times, as  a  church,  falls  into  the  water,  caus- 
ing the  great  steamer  to  rock.  Word  was 
passed  for  us  to  get  into  boats  for  an  excur- 
sion onto  the  glacier.  We  were  cautioned 
to  be  prudent  and  not  to  wander  too  far, 
and  were  told  the  story  of  a  young  Metho- 
dist clergyman,  who  went  out  of  sight  of 
his  companions  and  was  never  after  seen  or 
heard  of.  It  fell  to  my  lot  to  escort  a  lady 
who,  accompanied  by  her  maid,  wished  to 


44    Yellowstone  Park  and  Alaska. 

go  on  the  glacier.  A  glacier  may  be  said 
to  be  a  river  of  ice,  formed  on  the  moun- 
tains and  forced  downwards,  travelling  the 
same  as  water,  only  slower.  This  one 
moves  at  the  rate  of  about  forty  feet  a  day, 
much  faster  than  they  do  in  the  Alps. 
Those  at  Chamouny,  for  instance,  make 
only  a  foot  or  two  a  day.  Our  party  landed, 
and  for  some  distance  had  the  use  of  a 
plank  walk.  From  various  parts  of  this 
we  had  fine  views  of  the  front  of  the  gla- 
cier, large  pieces  of  which  were  frequently 
falling  into  the  water,  making  a  great  noise. 
We  then,  after  much  rough  walking  over 
stones  and  ice,  passed  up  to  the  main  body 
of  the  glacier.  The  ice  is  forced  up  into 
hillocks  and  ranges,  wet,  slippery,  and  diffi- 
cult to  travel  on.  Mrs.  B.  tripped  along 
lightly  and  safely,  but  not  so  her  maid, 
whose  shoes  were  treacherous,  and  twice 
she  came  to  grief,  but  no  harm  was  done. 
I  had  on  arctic  overshoes  with  corrugated 
soles,  which  served  me  well,  for  I  did  not 
slip  once.  For  an  hour  or  two  we  wan- 
dered about,  admiring  the  ice,  the  views, 
the  numerous  small  streams  of  clear  water 
formed  by  melted  ice,  and  then  returned 
to  our  quarters  on  board.     At  7   P.M.  the 


The  Muir  Glacier.  45 

stately  vessel  steamed  around  near  the 
front  of  the  glacier,  when,  as  if  to  give  us 
a  parting  salute,  an  immense  mass  of  ice, 
as  big  as  a  church,  fell  into  the  water  with 
a  great  noise.  The  passengers  cheered,  and 
we  went  on  our  course,  passing  numerous 
ice  islands.  The  day  was  perfect,  as  the 
preceding  ones  had  been. 


CHAPTER   XII. 


SITKA. 


Sitka,  July  n,  1892. 

I  T  six  o'clock  this  morning 
we  arrived  here.  The 
weather  was  warm,  tem- 
pered by  a  cool  breeze. 
Not  a  cloud  was  in  the 
sky.  This  is  a  small  har- 
bor, with  many  islands  in  sight.  From  the 
deck  of  the  steamer  we  could  see  the  town, 
and  on  top  of  a  hill  a  large  wooden  edifice, 
where  the  Russian  governor-general  for- 
merly resided.  It  is  vacant  now,  and  in 
a  dilapidated  condition.  We  went  ashore, 
and  saw  many  Indians  sitting  on  the  walks 
or  by  the  side  of  the  roads.  They  were 
dressed  nicely,  and  were  better  looking  than 
any  I  ever  saw  before.  They  had  the  usual 
supply  of  baskets  and  curios  for  sale. 

We  went  in  and  out  of  several  stores,  and 
bought  some  curios,  and  then  visited  the 
Russian    church,  where    there   were   some 


Sitka.  47 

fine  paintings  of  saints  and  other  religious 
subjects.  Back  about  a  rod  from  the  water, 
with  boats  in  front  of  them,  were  a  hun- 
dred or  more  houses  occupied  by  Indians. 
Accompanied  by  a  resident  doctor,  we  went 
into  some  of  these  houses,  and  saw  how  the 
Indians  lived.  Owing  to  the  large  number 
of  dogs  and  quantities  of  bad-smelling  fish, 
we  were  very  glad  to  get  away  from  that 
neighborhood. 

One  of  our  friends  had  chartered  the  only 
wagon  in  the  town,  and  took  us  for  a  trip 
of  a  mile  or  two  along  the  shore,  among 
the  sweet-smelling  spruce-trees,  to  a  small 
stream  of  water,  over  which  we  passed,  and 
then  rested  in  the  woods.  On  our  return, 
we  went  to  the  Presbyterian  Mission,  which 
is  a  large  and  important  one.  It  consists 
of  a  group  of  buildings :  a  church,  a  school- 
house,  and  two  large  edifices  erected  at 
the  expense  of  Mrs.  Elliott  F.  Shepard,  in 
which  the  young  Indians  are  to  be  taught 
carpentry  and  other  mechanical  industries. 
We  attended  a  school  in  session,  and  heard 
the  reverend  gentleman  in  charge  examine 
the  Indian  girls  and  boys  in  arithmetic, 
reading,  and  writing.  They  appeared  as 
bright  and  intelligent  as  any  white  children, 


48    Yellowstone  Park  and  Alaska. 

and  as  capable  of  being  educated.  It  was 
reported  to  us  that  there  were  two  hundred 
pupils  in  the  school,  and  fourteen  mission- 
aries in  charge. 

Mrs.  Richard  H.  L.  Townsend,  of  New 
York,  saw  among  the  pupils  a  sweet-faced 
and  bright  girl  ten  years  of  age,  and  after 
talking  to  her  awhile,  adopted  her  to  edu- 
cate, agreeing  to  pay  the  mission  for  her 
support  and  education  for  a  number  of 
years.  This  lady,  when  in  Japan  in  1889, 
adopted  in  a  similar  way  a  little  native 
girl  there,  and  another  native  girl  in  China. 
These  two  children  in  their  respective  coun- 
tries are  getting  along  nicely  with  their 
education,  and  write  to  Mrs.  T.  sweet  let- 
ters every  month. 


CHAPTER   XIII. 


AN  ACCIDENT  TO    THE  «  QUEEN." 


July  12,  1892. 

I T  7  P.M.  last  evening  the 
steamer's  whistle  sounded 
the  last  signal,  all  our  pas- 
sengers came  on  board, 
and  we  started.  Going 
out  of  the  harbor,  we 
passed  numerous  small  islands  covered 
with  spruce-trees.  The  view  of  the  town, 
the  harbor,  and  the  surrounding  mountains 
made  a  scene  of  great  beauty.  At  half-past 
seven  the  steamer  struck  a  rock.  The  bow 
was  forced  high  up  out  of  water,  and  the 
stern,  where  I  was  sitting  with  some  ladies 
and  gentlemen,  careened  over  so  much 
that  we  had  to  hold  on  to  the  railing  to 
prevent  ourselves  from  falling.  There  was 
no  occasion  for  alarm,  as  we  were  within 
two  hundred  feet  of  an  island,  and  about 
a  mile  from  the  harbor  of  Sitka,  where  we 
could  see  a  revenue  cutter  lying,  with  her 


50    Yellowstone  Park  and  Alaska. 

steam  up,  and  numerous  rowboats  near. 
No  one  about  us  manifested  any  excite- 
ment, except  one  young  woman  who  be- 
came hysterical  and  had  to  be  restrained. 
The  tide  was  rising,  and  our  captain  de- 
clined assistance  from  the  captain  of  the 
revenue  cutter,  thinking  it  best  to  wait  for 
the  tide  to  rise  high  enough  to  float  the 
vessel.  The  passengers  were  generally  very 
cool,  except  one  gentleman  from  Chicago, 
said  to  be  worth  several  million  dollars, 
who  indulged  in  remarks  about  the  proper 
way  to  navigate  steamers,  and  insisted  that 
the  captain  of  the  Queen  did  not  understand 
his  business,  or  he  would  not  have  run  the 
vessel  on  rocks  in  the  daytime.  Captain 
Carroll,  hearing  of  these  observations, 
stepped  up  to  the  great  capitalist  and  said  : 
"  Sir,  if  you  do  not  like  the  way  I  manage 
this  ship,  you  can  go  ashore,"  to  which  the 
capitalist  replied  that  he  would.  A  boat 
was  lowered,  and  the  officer  in  charge  was 
directed  to  take  this  gentleman,  together 
with  his  wife  and  daughter,  back  to  Sitka. 
There  being  no  hotels  in  the  town,  and 
hardly  any  accommodations  whatever,  ex- 
cept for  Indians  and  dogs,  the  prospect  of 
being  obliged  to  stop  there  for  a  week  or 


An  Accident  to  the  "Queen"     51 

two  was  not  entertaining,  so  the  wife  and 
daughter  remonstrated.  The  matter  was 
therefore  smoothed  over  with  the  captain, 
and  all  parties  remained  on  board.  Soon 
after  this  incident,  a  line  was  run  to  the 
shore  of  an  island  near  by,  and  attached  to 
the  trunk  of  a  tree,  to  assist  in  hauling  the 
ship  off.  Every  half  hour  or  so  the  pro- 
peller would  commence  running,  and  at- 
tempts would  be  made  to  start  the  steamer, 
with  no  success,  until  12.15  A.M.,  when, 
with  much  grating  on  the  bottom,  she  was 
floated  off  into  deep  water.  The  captain 
thought  best  to  take  her  back  to  Sitka,  so 
we  were  soon  anchored  there  again,  oppo- 
site Mrs.  Shepard's  houses. 

When  I  awoke  this  morning,  the  water 
was  as  still  as  a  mill  pond,  and  the  sky 
cloudless,  giving  us  another  perfect  day. 
It  was  found  that  no  damage  had  been 
done  to  the  steamer,  and  at  8  A.M.  she 
started  on  her  course.  We  are  now  passing 
through  Peril  Straits,  very  narrow,  with 
mountains  near,  covered  with  trees.  The 
water  is  shallow,  and  sometimes  our  stanch 
vessel  grates  roughly  over  the  bottom.  At 
one  time,  when  passing  an  opening  of  a 
dozen   miles,  we   looked    upon   the  ocean, 


52    Yellowstone  Park  and  Alaska. 

with  just  enough  swell  to  remind  us  how 
much  more  agreeable  it  is  to  sail  on  water 
where  you  are  not  liable  to  sea-sickness. 

The  captain  has  issued  his  usual  noon- 
day bulletin,  stating  that  the  ship  will  ar- 
rive at  certain  places  during  the  next 
twenty-four  hours,  provided  she  does  not 
run  on  rocks,,  and  there  is  no  fog,  and  that 
"after  Juneau,  we  will  go  to  Taku  Glacier, 
where  we  will  obtain  our  supply  of  ice." 
"  Passengers  are  permitted  to  fill  up  with 
it,  as  it  is  exceedingly  cheap,  and  cooling  to 
the  mind." 


CHAPTER    XTV. 


ICY   BAY,   TREADWELL,   AND 
JUNEAU. 

Juneau,  July  13,  1892. 

ESTERDAY  we  were 
moving  through  the 
straits,  and  looking  upon 
the  majestic  scenery 
which  distinguishes 
Alaska,  for  a  thousand 
miles  from  Tacoma.  We  passed  the  great 
Davidson  Glacier,  and  during  the  afternoon 
and  evening  were  constantly  seeing  immense 
ranges  of  mountains,  until  we  reached  Icy 
Bay  at  seven  this  morning.  Here  the  steamer 
took  in  her  supply  of  ice,  fishing  it  out  of 
the  water  and  hoisting  it  on  board,  several 
tons  at  a  time.  Coming  into  Icy  Bay,  the 
scenery  was  of  extraordinary  grandeur, 
mountains  many  thousand  feet  high,  the 
bases  of  which  were  near  the  water,  and 
numerous  waterfalls  and  glaciers.  Some 
of    us  sat    up   nearly  all   night   to   see  the 


54   Yellowstone  Park  and  Alaska. 

wonders,  the  like  of  which  cannot  be  seen 
anywhere  in  the  world,  except,  perhaps,  in 
Greenland.  After  midnight  the  moon  came 
up  in  all  her  glory,  and  the  northern  lights 
played  fantastic  tricks  in  the  sky.  ■  The 
great  glacier  in  this  bay  is  a  wonder,  a 
mile  wide  and  several  hundred  feet  high, 
the  ice  falling  off  every  few  minutes  in 
great  masses.  Once  I  saw  two  great  ice 
towers,  looking  much  like  those  of  the 
Church  of  Notre  Dame  in  Paris,  and  I 
called  the  attention  of  a  lady  to  them. 
Hardly  had  I  made  the  remark,  before  they 
both  crumbled  down  into  the  water  with  a 
tremendous  crash,  making  our  big  ship  feel 
the  force  of  the  waves  caused  by  the  fall. 
After  leaving  Icy  Bay  we  touched  at  Tread- 
well  at  noon,  where  are  located  some  famous 
gold  mines.  Most  of  the  passengers  went 
ashore  and  were  permitted  to  go  through 
the  large  buildings  of  the  mining  company, 
and  see  the  operations  of  getting  gold  from 
rocks.  The  blasting  was  going  on  a  short 
distance  off.  The  ore  was  transported  by 
rail  to  the  mill,  and  then  pounded  into 
powder  by  several  hundred  powerful  steam 
hammers,  which  made  a  prodigious  din. 
This  powdered  stone  was  mixed  with  run- 


Icy  Bay  and  Juneau.  55 

ning  water,  and  we  were  informed  that  the 
gold  was  obtained  in  that  way,  but  we  saw 
none  of  it.  An  hour  was  quite  sufficient 
for  Treadwell,  so  we  steamed  over  to  this 
place,  nearly  opposite,  and  went  ashore. 
There  are  several  hundred  houses  in  this 
town,  built  at  the  base  of  the  mountains. 
Near  the  water  there  was  the  usual  number 
of  Indian  women  squatting  on  the  ground 
and  offering  baskets  and  curios  for  sale. 
The  stores  are  well  supplied  with  skins  of 
foxes,  bears,  and  other  wild  animals,  and 
the  usual  goods  required  in  country  places. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

THE  RETURN  VOYAGE,  AND  SOME 
STORIES  TOLD  ON  THE  WAY. 


N  the  evening  of  the  13th  we 
left  Juneau,  and  reached 
Chilcat,  the  most  northerly 
place  on  our  course,  the 
following  morning.  Then 
commenced  the  return  trip 
over  much  the  same  route  which  we  took 
on  the  outgoing  voyage,  passing  the  moun- 
tains, glaciers,  and  islands  we  had  seen 
before.  The  passengers  amused  them- 
selves in  various  ways,  one  group  in 
the  cabin  telling  stories  to  pass  away  the 
time. 

One  of  this  party  interviewed  an  elderly 
gentleman,  and  asked  him  if  there  was  not 
a  history  connected  with  the  great  scar 
which  extended  across  his  face,  and  the 
gentleman  very  kindly  told  the  following, 
which  may  be  called — 


The  Return   Voyage.  57 

THE  CAPTAIN'S  STORY. 
"  My  name  is  Neilson,  and  I  have  been  at 
sea  since  I  was  a  boy.  For  many  years  I 
served  before  the  mast,  then  as  mate,  and 
finally  as  captain,  on  many  voyages  in  differ- 
ent parts  of  the  world.  Back  in  the  fifties 
I  was  in  command  of  a  whaling  ship  owned 
in  San  Francisco,  and  we  sailed  from  that 
port  to  the  selected  cruising  ground  in 
Behring  Sea,  between  the  Aleutian  Islands 
and  Behring  Strait.  Once  we  sailed  through 
the  strait  into  the  Arctic  Ocean,  but  the 
intense  cold  and  immense  masses  of  float- 
ing ice  drove  us  back  in  a  damaged  condi- 
tion. We  secured  a  good  many  whales 
after  some  months'  cruising  about,  until, 
one  day,  a  violent  storm  came  up,  and  we 
were  driven  ashore  on  St.  Lawrence  Island, 
near  North  Cape.  The  ship  was  a  total 
loss,  but  all  the  officers  and  crew  succeeded 
in  getting  ashore,  and  a  passing  ship  took 
us  back  to  San  Francisco.  I  stopped  in  the 
city  for  some  weeks,  and  talked  a  good  deal 
with  an  old  friend,  Captain  Samuel,  who 
had  also  been  so  unfortunate  as  to  lose  his 
ship  on  a  whaling  voyage.  We  looked 
about  and  found  some  capitalists  who  pur- 
chased a  ship  for  us,  and  we  determined  to 


58    Yellowstone  Park  and  Alaska. 

try  our  luck  again,  searching  for  whales  in 
the  Behring  Sea.  Captain  Samuel  sug- 
gested that  I  should  be  captain  and  he 
would  act  as  mate,  but  I  told  him  no,  that 
he,  being  the  elder  and  more  experienced, 
should  be  captain,  and  I  the  mate,  and  it 
was  so  arranged.  The  captain  of  a  whal- 
ing craft  always  has  a  share  of  the  results 
of  the  voyage,  and  the  mate  another,  but 
not  so  large  as  the  captain's.  It  was  agreed 
between  us  that  on  this  voyage  we  would 
divide  the  profits,  if  any,  equally.  It  will 
be  understood  that  at  this  time  whaling 
voyages  were  veiy  profitable,  sperm  oil 
often  selling  in  the  San  Francisco  market 
for  two  dollars  and  fifty  cents  per  gallon. 

"  We  shipped  a  crew  of  ten  men,  and  a 
second  mate,  took  on  provisions  for  a  long 
voyage,  and  sailed  for  Behring  Sea.  We 
cruised  about  over  three  months,  and  had 
remarkable  success,  having  harpooned  and 
secured  several  large  sperm  whales,  so  we  felt 
that  we  were  going  to  have  a  good  voyage. 

"  The  crew  was  a  rough  one,  and  some- 
times we  heard  murmurs  of  discontent 
about  the  labor  of  trying  out  the  oil,  and 
about  the  food,  but  we  paid  no  attention, 
thinking  it  only  the  usual  growling  among 


The  Return  Voyage,  59 

sailors.  One  day  the  captain  and  I  were  in 
the  cabin,  when  he,  hearing  a  noise,  stepped 
on  deck,  and  was  at  once  assaulted  by  a 
man  with  a  cutlass,  and  instantly  killed. 
Hearing  the  uproar,  I  too  rushed  on  deck 
only  to  be  in  season  to  see  the  prostrate 
form  of  the  murdered  captain,  and  a  sailor 
with  a  drawn  cutlass  coming  toward  me. 
As  I  backed  down  the  companion-way  he 
hit  me- on  the  head,  where  the  scar  is,  which 
has  attracted  your  attention.  I  fell  into 
the  hold,  and  the  mutineers,  thinking  I 
was  dead,  did  not  follow  me.  I  found,  in 
the  hold,  the  second  mate,  unhurt,  who 
staunched  the  flowing  blood  from  my 
wound,  and  bound  it  up  with  some  old 
canvas.  At  that  time  I  was  nearly  forty 
years  younger  than  I  am  now,  and  was  as 
tough  as  men  are  made.  The  mutineers 
heard  us  moving  about,  and  fired  at  us  with 
muskets  loaded  with  ball,  but  did  not  hit 
us.  For  some  reason,  they  did  not  venture 
down  after  us,  probably  because  they  knew 
there  were  loaded  muskets  within  our  reach, 
and  that  we  would  be  sure  to  use  them. 
We  found  the  muskets,  but  they  were  use- 
less, having  been  wet. 

"  As  every  moment's  delay  was  danger- 


60   Yellowstone  Park  and  Alaska. 

ous,  we  being  liable  to  be  hunted  down, 
killed,  and  thrown  into  the  sea,  to  follow 
the  body  of  our  murdered  captain,  it  became 
necessary  for  us  to  think  and  act  quickly. 

"  We  could  hear  the  men,  who  were 
collected  together  directly  over  the  cabin, 
talking  loudly  and  excitedly.  I  knew  where 
the  magazine  was,  and  getting  a  keg  of 
powder,  placed  it  directly  under  where  the 
mutineers  were  standing,  laid  a  train  from 
it  to  the  bow  of  the  vessel,  and  touched  a 
match  to  it.  The  explosion  was  almost 
instantaneous,  and  tremendous  in  its  results, 
throwing  to  the  right  and  left  that  part  of 
the  cabin  over  which  the  mutineers  were, 
and  killing  or  drowning  every  man  except 
three,  who,  evidently  thinking  the  ship  was 
a  wreck,  hastily  got  into  a  boat  and  rowed 
away. 

"  We  listened  for  some  time,  but  hearing 
no  noise,  went  on  deck,  and  found  on  exam- 
ination that  the  hull  of  the  ship  was  per- 
fectly sound,  and  that  no  damage  had  been 
done  to  the  masts  ;  so  that  with  some  as- 
sistance we  could  navigate  her  into  port. 
We  obtained  the  assistance  required  from 
a  passing  vessel,  and  in  due  season  arrived 
at  San  Francisco.     There  was  a  good  deal 


The  Return  Voyage.  61 

of  valuable  sperm  oil  on  board,  which  was 
sold,  and  gave  the  second  mate  and  myself 
quite  a  sum  of  money,  the  owners  being  dis- 
posed to  be  liberal  under  the  extraordinary 
circumstances. 

"  After  this,  I  concluded  to  abandon  the 
sea,  and  went  into  the  business  of  supply- 
ing water  to  ships  in  the  port  of  San  Fran- 
cisco. 

"  I  had  followed  this  business  for  twelve 
years,  when  one  day,  as  I  was  furnishing 
water  for  a  whaling  ship,  I  saw  among  the 
sailors  a  man  who,  I  felt  quite  certain,  was 
the  ring-leader  of  the  gang  of  murderous 
mutineers  who  killed  our  captain  and  came 
so  near  making  an  end  of  me.  I  communi- 
cated my  suspicions  to  the  captain  of  the 
whaler,  but  he  said  that  his  ship  was  ready 
to  sail,  and  that  he  would  take  the  man, 
but  would  keep  a  watch  on  him,  and  find 
out  if  he  talked  while  at  sea.  When  this 
ship  returned,  the  captain  sought  me  out, 
and  said  :  '  He  is  your  man,  for  he  talked 
during  the  voyage,  and  told  about  being  on 
a  ship  on  which  an  explosion  took  place, 
and  he  and  two  others  were  the  only  sur- 
vivors/ I  had  the  man  arrested,  but  the 
administration  of  justice  was  very  lax  at 


62    Yellowstone  Park  and  Alaska. 

that  time  in  California,  and  the  time  which 
had  elapsed  since  the  commission  of  the 
crime  rendered  proof  difficult  to  obtain,  so 
the  man  escaped  the  gallows. 

"  This,  gentlemen,  is  the  story  of  how  I 
became  scarred  for  life,  as  you  see." 

Another  tale  related  by  one  of  the  story-* 
telling  group  ran  as  follows : 

THE  TRAVELLER'S  STORY. — AN  UMBRELLA. 

"  I  am  an  expert  in  umbrellas,  take  good 
care  of  them,  and  'they  generally  serve  me 
for  many  years.  I  have  one  purchased  in 
Florence,  another  from  the  Bon  Marche, 
Paris,  and  this  one,  which  I  hold  in  my 
hand,  bought  at  the  Burlington  Arcade, 
London,  has  been  a  good  and  faithful  ser- 
vant, having  been  used  as  a  cane  when 
tramping  through  Italy,  France,  Germany, 
and  England.  It  has  sheltered  me  from 
the  rains  of  Japan,  and  the  terrible  sun  in 
China,  Ceylon,  India,  Egypt,  and  Turkey. 
It  has  been  re-covered  in  Vienna,  and  had  a 
new  stick  put  in  at  New  York,  and,  as  you 
see,  is  now  in  fair  condition.  One  day,  in 
Constantinople,  I  wandered  along  the  street 
called  La  Grande   Rue  de    Pera,  which  is 


The  Return    Voyage,  63 

about  a  mile  long,  and  on  which  are  located 
the  principal  foreign  shops  ;  but  I  failed  to 
discover  anything  grand  about  it,  and  one 
is  annoyed  to  have  to  avoid  stepping  on 
great  yellow  dogs,  who  are  sleeping  on  the 
sidewalks,  when  there  are  any,  and  in  the 
roadway.  At  one  end  of  this  street  are 
cable  cars,  which  carry  you  down  a  sharp 
incline  to  the  streets  on  the  water.  I  took 
one  of  these  cars  down,  and  in  a  few  min- 
utes passed  over  the  famous  bridge  which 
connects  Galata  with  Constantinople  proper, 
to  a  wharf,  where  I  was  detained  some  time 
waiting  for  a  steamboat  to  take  me  on  the 
splendid  and  never-to-be-forgotten  trip  up 
the  Bosphorus,  to  the  entrance  of  the  Black 
Sea.  Many  large  yellow  dogs  were  wan- 
dering about  on  the  wharf,  and  one  of  them 
coming  near  me,  I  scratched  his  back  with 
this  umbrella,  which  he  took  for  a  hostile 
demonstration,  and  bit  the  umbrella  in  a 
most  savage  way,  with  his  long,  sharp  teeth. 
I  succeeded  in  getting  it  away  from  him, 
and  was  glad  that  he  did  not  try  his  teeth 
on  me.  From  that  day  I  have  been  care- 
ful about  undertaking  to  pet  strange  dogs 
with  umbrellas,  or  anything  else,  but  I  for- 
got the   Constantinople  experience  yester- 


64    Yellowstone  Park  and  Alaska. 

day  at  Sitka,  when  I  went  ashore,  and  after 
wandering  around  among  the  Indian  women, 
who  were  sitting  on  the  grass  surrounded 
by  their  mats,  bottles,  and  various  curios, 
I  stopped  opposite  one  of  them,  and  saw, 
lying  down  in  front  of  her,  a  very  small  dog, 
which  I  supposed  was  a  puppy,  but  it  proved 
to  be  full  grown,  and  a  very  ugly  little  beast. 
I  touched  him  with  the  umbrella,  and  he 
barked  in  a  furious  manner,  and  making  one 
jump,  fastened  his  teeth  into  my  leg  above 
the  knee.  I  shook  him  off,  the  Indian 
woman  put  him  under  her  blanket,  and  I 
returned  to  the  ship  to  repair  damages  with 
court-plaster,  vowing  that  never  shall  this 
umbrella  be  used  again  to  pet  a  strange 
dog." 

Indian  reminiscences  being  in  order,  one 
of  our  party  related  the  following : 

SARAH  ARBUCKLE  AND  THE  INDIAN  CHIEF. 

A   STORY   OF   FRONTIER   LIFE   IN   NEW    HAMPSHIRE. 

"  Sarah  Arbuckle  came  to  this  country, 
with  her  father  and  brothers,  about  1740, 
when  she  was  sixteen  years  old.  They 
settled  in  the  midst  of  a  dense  wilderness, 
where  the  town  of   Merrimac  now  stands, 


The  Return    Voyage.  65 

many  miles  from  neighbors,  and  she  was 
their  housekeeper.  It  was  so  lonely  that 
many  times  a  day,  she  would  step  out-of- 
doors  to  listen  for  the  sound  of  their  axes, 
and  if  it  ceased  for  any  length  of  time,  she 
would  tremble  with  fear  lest  the  Indians  or 
wild  beasts  had  attacked  them. 

"  One  morning  she  was  stooping  over  the 
fireplace,  making  the  i  stirabout '  (Indian 
hasty  pudding)  for  breakfast,  when  a  shadow 
falling  across  the  floor  startled  her,  and 
turning  hastily  to  the  open  door,  she  was 
frightened  almost  to  death  at  the  sight  of 
a  gigantic  Indian  standing  at  the  thresh- 
old, with  blood  streaming  down  all  over 
one  side  of  his  face.  He  tried  to  speak 
to  her,  but  she  could  not  understand  him. 
When  she  was  a  little  over  her  fright,  she 
saw  that  there  was  an  arrow  sticking  in  his 
eye,  which  he  wanted  her  to  remove.  She 
plucked  up  courage,  drew  the  arrow  out, 
dressed  the  wound,  gave  him  food,  and  he 
stayed  there  and  was  cared  for  a  few  days, 
and  then  disappeared  in  the  woods.  Some 
years  after  this  occurrence,  a  war  broke  out 
between  the  Indians  and  settlers,  and  the 
Arbuckles  were  preparing  to  remove  to  the 
garrison  house  for  safety,  when,  one  even- 
5 


66    Yellowstone  Park  and  Alaska. 

ing,  a  band  of  Indians,  with  fearful  yells, 
burst  in  the  doors  of  their  house,  and  the 
tomahawk  was  just  descending  on  Sarahs 
head,  when  at  a  word  spoken  by  a  chief, 
who  rushed  in  after  them,  every  warrior 
dropped  his  hand,  and  silently,  one  after 
another,  filed  out  into  the  darkness,  leav- 
ing the  chief  with  the  family.  He  had 
learned  enough  English  to  tell  them  that 
he  had  been  there  before,  and  had  been 
assisted  by  them,  and  that  they  need  fear 
nothing.  They  might  remain  on  their 
place,  and  would  not  be  molested.  They 
did  so  throughout  the  war,  and  had  no  fur- 
ther trouble.  This  Indian  came  to  see  them 
annually,  for  years  after,  always  bringing 
them  some  little  present." 


These  and  other  stories  helped  us  to 
while  away  the  time  until  we  arrived  at 
Nanaimo,  at  six  o'clock  on  the  morning  of 
July  16th.  Here  our  party  left  the  steamer 
and  embarked  on  a  ferry-boat. 

In  two  hours  we  landed  at  Vancouver, 
British  Columbia,  and  found  there  a  first- 
class  hotel.  Ten  years  ago,  we  were  in- 
formed,   the   place   on   which   the    city   is 


The  Return    Voyage.  67 

built  was  a  wilderness,  but  when  the  Cana- 
dian Pacific  Railroad  made  it  the  western 
terminus  of  its  line,  there  was  at  once  a 
"  boom,"  such  as  has  been  seen  so  often  in 
our  own  Western  States,  and  now  there 
are  banks,  public  buildings,  fine  streets, 
electric  cars,  and  all  the  appliances  to  make 
strangers  and  residents  happy. 


CHAPTER   XVI. 

ON   THE   CANADIAN   PACIFIC. 

Glacier  House, 
Canadian  Pacific  Railway,  July  19,  1892. 

E  left  Vancouver  at  2.20 
•  P.M.  on  the  1 6th,  and 
made  our  acquaintance 
with  this  great  transcon- 
tinental railway.  I  think 
it  fully  as  good  as  any 
of  those  over  which  I  have  travelled  in  re- 
cent years.  A  good  roadbed,  fine  and  com- 
fortable cars,  polite  attendants,  and  every 
thing  supplied  to  make  travelling  agreeable. 
The  road  runs  for  many  miles  on  the  banks 
of  the  Frazier  River.  Great  mountains 
tower  above,  covered  with  snow,  and  there 
are  distant  views  of  glaciers,  which  would 
have  been  thought  immense  if  we  had  not 
seen  those  in  Alaska.  We  were  detained 
all  day  Sunday  at  a  place  called  Kamloops, 
a  telegram  having  been  received  that  a 
freight  train  had  been  derailed  eighty  miles 
eastward.     Some  of  us  attended  service  at 


On  the  Canadian  Pacific.        69 

a  small  Methodist  Church,  and  listened  to 
a  good  sermon  from  a  young  man  who  had 
for  a  congregation  only  about  twenty  per- 
sons. Leaving  Kamloops  on  the  evening 
of  the  17th,  we  arrived  here  at  seven  the 
next  morning.  This  hotel,  which  was  built 
and  is  kept  by  the  railway  company,  is  a 
fine  one,  and  guests  are  made  very  comfort- 
able by  the  excellent  manager,  Mr.  Pearly. 
The  valley  through  which  the  road  passes 
does  not  contain  more  than  two  or  three 
hundred  acres,  and  is  surrounded  by  im- 
mense mountains,  one  of  which,  Sir  Donald, 
is  a  mile  and  a  half  high.  Small  streams 
of  melted  ice  and  snow  come  rushing  down 
from  the  tops  of  these  mountains,  and  form 
a  pretty  little  river,  in  some  places  not  more 
than  twenty-five  feet  wide.  Our  party  took 
a  two-mile  walk  over  a  rough  path  to  a  great 
glacier  among  the  mountains,  Mr.  Pearly 
acting  as  guide.  It  was  a  hard  tramp 
through  the  woods,  and  over  small  streams, 
but  we  all  survived  it,  and  in  a  couple  of 
hours  returned  to  the  hotel,  very  much 
fatigued,  but  well  pleased.  Near  the  hotel, 
the  railway  tracks  are  covered  with  sub- 
stantial snow-sheds  about  a  mile  long, 
made  of  heavy  planks  and  timber,  afford- 


70   Yellowstone  Park  and  Alaska. 

ing  an  excellent  place  for  walking  and  view- 
ing the  surrounding  mountains.  A  party 
of  ladies  and  gentlemen  went  out  on  these 
sheds  this  morning,  and  spent  some  time 
walking  back  and  forth,  viewing  the  mag- 
nificent scenery.  The  surrounding  moun- 
tains appeared  colossal  in  their  grandeur. 
We  had  a  fine  view  of  them,  and  of  the 
great  glacier,  and  the  valley  below.  The 
scenery  all  along  this  railway  from  Vancou- 
ver impresses  me  as  the  most  splendid  I 
have  ever  seen  anywhere,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  once,  when  we  came  up  from  the 
hot  plains  of  India,  crossed  the  Ganges, 
and  taking  a  little  narrow-gauge  railway, 
crawled  up  the  mighty  Himalayas  to  Dar- 
jeeling,  arriving  at  sunset.  It  was  a  glori- 
ous sight,  four  mighty  ranges  of  mountains, 
among  them  Mount  Everest,  twenty-nine 
thousand  feet  high.  But  this  is  a  digression. 
From  our  place  of  observation  on  the  snow- 
sheds  we  were  looking  down  into  the  valley, 
when  suddenly  Mr.  Edwin  T.  Townsend 
shouted :  "  There  is  a  bear,"  and  all  eyes 
were  turned  in  the  direction  of  the  little 
stream  running  through  the  valley  below, 
about  one-third  of  a  mile  off.  On  a  small 
island  in  this  stream,  wandering  about,  was 


On  the  Canadian  Pacific.        Ji 

a  big  grizzly,  as  large  as  a  cow.  He  was  in 
sight  for  half  an  hour,  and  seemed  to  be  a 
playful  kind  of  a  beast.  He  would  wade 
out  into  the  stream,  and  get  something  to 
eat,  probably  refuse  from  the  hotel,  then  go 
ashore  and  devour  it  ;  and  once  he  got  hold 
of  a  good-sized  spruce-tree  and  shook  it 
violently.  Mr.  Eden,  of  Winnipeg,  went  to 
the  hotel  for  a  gun,  and,  accompanied  by 
another  gentleman,  tried  to  head  off  the 
bear  and  get  a  shot  at  him,  but  he  disap- 
peared and  could  not  be  found. 


CHAPTER   XVII. 

BANFF  SPRINGS. 

Banff  Springs  Hotel, 
Canadian  National  Park,  July  22,  1892. 

E  left  the  Glacier  Hotel 
on  the  19th,  at  1  P.M., 
or,  as  stated  in  the  time 
tables  of  this  country,  at 
thirteen  o'clock,  and  ar- 
rived here  at  11  P.M. 
We  spent  the  whole  time  on  the  observa- 
tion car,  viewing  the  mighty  mountains  and 
magnificent  scenery  along  the  banks  of  the 
Columbia  and  the  Beaver. 

Banff  is  an  ideal  place  for  an  hotel,  being 
situated  near  the  Bow  River  Falls  and  the 
mouth  of  the  Spray,  and  surrounded  by 
great  mountains,  often  ten  thousand  feet 
higjh.  There  are  fine  roads  and  walks  every- 
where. The  hotel  is  a  splendid  one,  built 
and  run  by  the  railway  company,  and  every- 
thing about  it  is  first-class.  Sulphur  springs 
are  located  two  miles  up  among  the  moun- 


Banff  Springs.  73 

tains,  the  water  being  brought  down  in 
pipes  to  the  rear  of  the  hotel,  where  there 
are  bathing  houses,  and  an  open-air  bathing 
tank,  thirty  by  twenty  feet  and  five  feet 
deep.  The  water  in  this  tank  is  strongly 
impregnated  with  sulphur.  Young  Mr. 
Townsend  and  I  took  a  bath  in  this  tank, 
and  found  the  water  so  delightful,  soft,  and 
nice  to  swim  about  in,  that  we  stopped  in 
too  long,  or  were  not  sufficiently  cautious 
coming  out,  and  I  caught  a  bad  cold,  fol- 
lowed by  a  cough  and  headache,  and  conse- 
quently had  to  spend  a  couple  of  days  in 
bed,  seeking,  with  the  aid  of  Doctors  Diet 
and  Quiet,  to  recuperate. 


CHAPTER   XVIII. 

CONCLUSION. 

1?)  E  left  Banff  at  10.20  P.M. 
on  the  22d,  and  after  two 
days  and  two  nights  on 
the  cars,  reached  Winni- 
peg, the  capital  of  Man- 
itoba.  At  the  hotel 
there  we  found  the  rooms  for  which  we 
had  telegraphed  ready  for  us.  The  sulphur 
bath  at  Banff,  and  the  subsequent  exposure, 
proved  too  much  for  me,  and  I  was  obliged 
to  go  to  bed  and  stay  there  for  a  week. 
Very  often  I  suffered  extreme  pain  in  the 
head,  and  was  only  conscious  of  being  care- 
fully nursed  by  my  sister  and  travelling 
companions,  and  attended  by  a  skilful  doc- 
tor. After  three  days  and  nights  of  con- 
tinuous illness  I  grew  better,  and  began 
to  appreciate  how  exceedingly  kind  every 
one  was.  One  lady,  Mrs.  E.,  of  Winnipeg, 
sent  for  my  use  calfs-foot  jelly  and  beef 
tea  prepared  by  her  own   fair  hands,  and 


Conclusion.  75 

accompanied  with  beautiful  flowers  from 
her  garden.  Another  one,  Mrs.  B.,  of  New 
Orleans,  sent  a  pot  of  beautiful  flowering 
fuchsia.  All  of  which  attentions  were  very 
acceptable. 

Ever  since  we  left  Vancouver,  all  along 
the  railroad,  there  was  a  small-pox  scare. 
There  had  been  a  hundred  cases  at  Victoria, 
and  the  city  had  been  quarantined ;  reports 
were  also  circulated  that  the  disease  was 
bad  at  Vancouver,  and  as  a  consequence 
the  passengers  on  our  train  were  looked 
upon  with  suspicion.  At  one  stopping 
place,  called  Medicine  Hat,  ropes  were  put 
around  the  station,  and  the  passengers 
were  prevented  from  going  into  the  town. 
The  governor  of  North  Dakota  issued  a 
proclamation  forbidding  all  persons  to  come 
into  that  State  from  Manitoba,  by  rail  or 
otherwise,  because  a  Chinaman  near  the 
line,  and  a  girl  who  nursed  him,  had  the 
small-pox.  In  two  or  three  days,  however, 
this  proclamation  was  withdrawn,  much  to 
my  relief,  as  I  wished  to  return  home  by 
the  shortest  route.  The  Manitoba  Hotel, 
where  we  were  located,  is  owned  and  man- 
aged by  the  Northern  Pacific  Railroad  Co., 
and  is  a  model  one  in  every  way. 


J  6    Yellowstone  Park  and  Alaska. 

When  sufficiently  recovered  from  my  at 
one  time  serious  illness,  I  took  several 
drives  about  the  thriving  and  beautiful  city, 
and  finally,  on  August  2d,  we  started  by  the 
Great  Northern  Railroad  for  home.  One 
day  at  Minneapolis  was  altogether  too  little 
time  for  seeing  one  of  the  finest  cities  of 
its  size  in  the  world.  Two  days  were  spent 
at  Chicago,  during  which  we  drove  around 
the  Exposition  buildings,  now  rapidly  near- 
ing  completion  ;  then  we  took  places  pre- 
viously engaged  on  the  Pennsylvania  Lim- 
ited, and  in  twenty-five  hours  were  landed 
in  Jersey  City.  We  happened  to  occupy  a 
car  which  had  just  been  put  on  the  road, 
containing  many  new  appliances  and  con- 
veniences, the  latest  inventions  of  Mr.  Pull- 
man. 

Thus  pleasantly  our  journey  ended,  and 
we  arrived  safely  home  again,  after  an  ab- 
sence of  just  fifty-one  days. 


